


A Much Needed Talk

by botgal



Category: Homestuck
Genre: But not done out of malice or ill intent, Childhood Trauma, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Multi, Non-Consensual Kissing, Non-Consensual Touching, Past Child Abuse, Polyamory, Psychological Trauma, References to therapy and medication, see if you can guess who the 'she' is at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 18:38:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11469369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/botgal/pseuds/botgal
Summary: In the world of Earth C, a happy, comfortable polyamory has formed between a happy, comfortable three.But then two of their number are shown that perhaps things aren't quite so good as they'd like to believe.





	A Much Needed Talk

**Author's Note:**

> So this was originally going to be for a request, but then I decided it was too depressing so I'll be making fluff for the request, and then this is its own thing for everyone to suffer from.  
> So enjoy my angst.

All things considered, things were going rather smoothly.

  
Sure, a three person relationship hadn’t really ever been a thing before, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be. Trolls were greatly predisposed to having multiple partners by nature, and they were all capable of making their decisions (especially since Mituna had been getting some help from his alternate ancestor self and his meds that helped things out sometimes). Mituna had been the one to suggest it to begin with, pulling Kankri into the fold of their relationship. And hell, they were making it work.

  
Despite the talkative troll’s typical response of denying any attraction and sticking firmly to his celibacy, they never pushed him to it. They had told him what they were considering, and let him think it over. If it was going to be a thing, they didn’t want to pressure him into it. Eventually, he’d finally come to a decision of his own, and agreed to give it a try.

  
It wasn’t a super intimate an arrangement. Though he’d since decided to end his vows of celibacy in his quadrants, he never did seem too comfortable with close contact for long periods of time. It wasn’t as if he were totally averse. They’d kissed. They’d cuddled. At a few times they’d even gotten as far as making out. But for the most part, he was still very standoffish for reasons he refused to impart.

  
They tried to treat it as part of the progression, though. He was just unused to closeness, probably. He still didn’t even accept any touchy pale flirting from Porrim. So they respected it. If Kankri wanted to curl up at one end of the couch while she and Mituna cuddled at another, that was cool. They were still all together, hanging out, being close. They were all comfortable with it.

  
If there was one thing they _did_ try to push him to do, however, it was to get some therapy like the rest of them.

  
The Game took a big toll on all of them in their own ways, no one walked away unscathed. By this point all of them had talked about things to someone and gotten some help. From ever pliant Rufioh and Meulin, all the way to stubborn and proud Damara and Meenah. Everyone had swallowed their pride and decided to go to a professional for the subject. For the verbal therapy, the medications, whatever it was they needed to help them readjust.  
Everyone except Kankri, that was.

  
Even when she and Mituna _tried_ to get him to give the Purple Blood the two of them went to a chance, vouching for her skill and certifications, he would always clamp down and adamantly refuse that he even needed help.

  
For whatever reason, Latula always got the impression that he was… on edge when those suggestions were made. He could be incredibly stubborn, sure. But the way he _looked_ whenever they suggested it, always made her feel like she was walking on eggshells with the subject.

  
Not that she was afraid he’d ever intentionally hurt them, no. It was… hard to place. All she knew was, she and Mituna had agreed that they weren’t going to push the matter any more than they had to.

  
Though, walking in on the scene she did, it finally seemed to her at last that they _really_ had to.

  
She hadn’t gotten any inkling of concern when she walked back into their set of blocks in the hivestem they shared. No worrying texts had been sent. No sense of foreboding followed her as she unlocked the door.

  
Which was, perhaps, why the shock hit her all the more when she walked in on Mituna at the kitchen table; holding some ice to his eye, what looked like a wad of cotton in his mouth, and sporting a big, shiny yellow bruise on his jaw.

  
“ ‘Tuna?!” Latula gasped as she dropped her board, forgetting the door and letting it slam behind her as she ran forward to get a better look at him. “Are you alright, babe!? What happened?” She took his face in her hands. Gingerly feeling around to inspect the damage. Thankfully, other than the bruised jaw and what looked like a formerly bleeding tongue (the cotton was stained yellow and none of it seemed fresh anymore), and a nice shiner on the eye he had been icing, he seemed fine.

  
“ ’M fine, Tula, really,” he muttered after he’d spat out the wad of cotton. “Jus’… I think I might’ve messed up.”

  
“ 'messed up’?” Latula repeated incredulously. “How’d you mess up that your face got so thrashed, bro?”

  
“Wi’ Kanks,” he responded softly. Latula paused with her examination of his face, and looked him dead in the eye.

  
“… Kankri did this to you?” She asked seriously. Mituna nodded, and her lips thinned into a line. “… Tell me what happened, Tuna. From the top.”

Mituna pressed the ice back to his eye, tongue rubbing between his fangs as he seemed to try to gather his thoughts and his words. Latula sat back and let him. It was better to let him collect his thoughts first. He was more coherent now than he had been in the bubbles, but if the situation was as crazy as he looked, she’d want to get as much out of him as possible.

  
“Well…”

–

_It wasn't an unusual thing when Mituna came home a little high. He and Kurloz were hanging out, jamming. It was normal for a bit of catnip to be smoked in those times. Even so, when he came in the door, smelling of the distinctive smoke, Kankri on the couch had wrinkled his nose._

“ _Heyy, Kanklz,” he'd greeted easily. Just barely remembering the door behind him. He wasn't so high that he was out of his mind, more a bit dizzy and giddy. “Werz' Tulip-baybe?”_

“ _Latula's still out with Porrim and the rest. She won't be back until early tomorrow morning, I think.” Mituna made a sound of disappointment, and Kankri sighed as he looked back down to his book. “You should probably go to your block and try to sleep it off. Or maybe shower first, if you can manage it.” He did detest the smell of burnt catnip._

_However, in the few moments he had looked down, before looking up again to voice another thought, he was startled to see Mituna already there. Standing in front of him on the couch._

“ _Y' wanna' cuddle, Kankz?” Mituna asked, drawing a confused look from Kankri. “Tulip-bayb always leth me cuddle with her after I hang wi Kurlotz.”_

“ _No thank you, Mituna. I'm really not in the mood for that right now.” Mituna frowned, seeing that Kankri was in one of what he and Latula called his 'hands off days'. When he disliked being touched. However, the giddier, more affected part of his brain that was dulled up by the catnip made him pout and lean in._

“ _Awwe, cum on, Kankz... heh, 'cum'.” He snorted at his own accidental innuendo, and Kankri made a face, but one that turned quickly tense when Mituna leaned in. “Cum oooon. I just wanna cuddle. Can't we juzt cuddle, Kankz?”_

“ _Mituna, I've said **no** , and I **mean** -” he never got the chance to finish his sentence, because his mouth was suddenly covered and the words swallowed up. Mituna was kissing him. Mituna was **kissing him** and his heart was suddenly beating at a snare drum's pace. Mituna could feel that other heartbeat as he pushed away the book, taking hold of the other's shoulders to pull him closer._

_He pushed Kankri into the couch, and managed to slip his tongue through his lips into the heat that lay behind them._

_Then, suddenly, he cried out in pain and pulled back suddenly, holding his mouth as he tasted his own blood in his mouth. Even as he tried to feel out the pain in his mouth from the sudden bite to his tongue, Kankri lashed out suddenly, and his foot connected with Mituna's jaw. Before he practically vaulted the back of the couch and took off running._

_Mituna tried to use his limited psionics to grab hold of him, keep him from running off, but then the corner of Kankri's book hit him in the eye. Normally that wouldn't be so big of a deal, but the book he'd been reading was thick. And hardcover. And it hurt._

_And so, while Mituna held his smarting eye, Kankri ran up the stairs and out of sight as fast as his legs could carry him._

–

Latula and Mituna sat there in silence once Mituna had told his tale. Latula trying to process the information, and Mituna simmering in the story he'd just told.

“...And where's Kankri now, Tuna?” Latula asked softly.

“Shtill in his room, guess,” Mituna muttered. He seemed quiet, pensive. His fists clenching in his lap. “... D'yu think I fugked up, Tulip?” he asked softly, surprising her. “I wasn' gonna go fahr... just tryna kisth him. I wuz still kinda hghj- hgrgrg...” He shook his head, how upset he was was really showing. “ _High_ ,” he finally managed to spit out. “But I know I wasn gonna go further... But I spibl made him mad...”

“Tuna babe, it's okay,” Latula soothed him gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Look, it'll be okay. We'll just... go talk to him. See what's wrong, and we can talk it out. We're all matesprits here, we can talk about our problems, get through them. That's what we do.”

After a brief kiss between them, and some more murmured assurances, they both made their way up the stairs to Kankri's room.

They all had a room that they shared, but also a room that each of them had to themselves. No matter how much they liked each other, they all had times when they needed to be alone. Which was why Latula knew he'd be there. When they finally stood in front of his door, she was the one who knocked.

“Kankri?” She even tried to use his real name, no nickname, to show how serious she was. “You in there, dude? Tuna and I wanna come in, if that's okay.”

There was a long silence from the other side, and for a minute the two of them thought he wasn't even there. Until at last there were a few small clicking sounds from the door, and it opened just a crack. Through the gap, they caught a glimpse of a chain, holding the door to the frame. And then there was a single, bright red eye staring out at them from the otherwise dark room. The eye darted from her, to Mituna, fixating on him in particular. Even Mituna caught onto Kankri's stare, and he shuffled his feet against the floorboards.

“... Don't gota, 'f y' dun wanna,” Mituna muttered. “I pushed on ya... shouldn'f haffv. Probly mad at me, I guess.” Latula wanted to reassure him that Kankri wouldn't be, but even she wasn't certain. It was always a balance for the three of them. They had their boundaries, all three of them knew each other's, and they respected them. With how much better he'd been getting recently, Latula felt bad that Mituna was getting so knotted up over a lapse in judgment, even if it was a big one.

The door snapped shut suddenly, and Latula almost prepared to tell Mituna that maybe they should go for now, come back later.

But then there were a few more clicks, and the door creaked open again. No chain restraining it. Latula and Mituna looked at each other, and Latula cautiously pushed it open the rest of the way.

Kankri had retreated back to his respite platform in the time they had hesitated in opening the door, and now sat in the middle of it. Curled up with his face pressed into his knees. The physical scars of the Game were just about gone, so whatever scars he'd had on his exposed arms and shoulders before were all just about gone. There were still the thin white lines, beginning the darkening to gray as his skin took on its adult hue like the rest of their group, but even those hardly took away from what both she and Mituna had agreed as the attractive slope of his shoulders. Right now, those shoulders were sagging and limp, they looked too heavy.

“Hey Kankri...” Latula greeted softly, just in case he was still spooked. “You okay, dude?” A shift, and he was shaking his head into his knees. That was a no. “... Mind if we sit down? Just to talk.” A pause, and then another shake. No, he didn't mind. They both quickly settled on either side of him. Just sitting, no touching. Eventually, Kankri shifted his head, so he was looking toward Mituna.

“... Does it hurt?” He asked, surprising the both of them. His voice sounded hoarse, but they heard him. Mituna put his hand to his bruised jaw, wincing as he felt his own tender skin. It hadn't bothered him as much earlier while he was still on the buzz, but now that it was gone, he could definitely feel it.

“Lil bit,” he lied nonetheless. “Fukghed up my face predy good, Kankz... Prolly deserve it, tho.”

“No, no you didn't,” Kankri groaned, clenching his knees more tightly. “You surprised me, but I _hurt_ you. I hit you in the face and I bit you, and you didn't deserve it at all. It was just me being _stupid_.” The force of the last word almost made Latula wince with the vitriol he put behind it. All directed at himself.

Forgetting herself for a minute, Latula placed a comforting hand on Kankri's back, and then remembered just who it was that she was touching in this situation when his whole back suddenly went rigid. She was just about to pull her hand back and apologize, but Kankri leaned into her instead. Until he was nuzzled up under her arm and burying his face in her side. Latula turned to facilitate his leaning into her for comfort, feeling him relax as he clutched at her jumpsuit. Mituna scooted closer as well, carefully palming Kankri's back and slowly feeling the tension leak out of his muscles.

“I'm sorry, Mituna,” Kankri said, the hoarseness more evident in his tone and made it all the more evident how he must have been crying. Even if neither of them could see his face. “You took me by surprise, and I wasn't ready. But I still hurt you. I _hurt you_ and I didn't mean it but I did it, and I'm so sorry I did it.”

“Kankri, it's okay,” Latula soothed. “Tuna's sorry he freaked you out so bad. We know you've got your thing about your space sometimes, we get it. You've just never done this before, so we're worried about you is all. It's good you're sorry you hurt him, but he's sorry, too.” Mituna nodded, making a noise to confirm what she was saying, but all Kankri did was whine upsettingly.

“But he _shouldn't be_ ,” he insisted. His breathing picked up the more he spoke, to the point Latula was almost worried he was going to start hyperventilating. “It was just a kiss, and I should've been able to do it, but I panicked and I couldn't do it and I just couldn't think. He was there and he was kissing me and I couldn't breathe and then his hands were on my shoulders. And it was too much like _her_ and I just couldn't...” His words trailed off as his breath caught in his throat, and Mituna paused in his attempts to move his hand to soothe Kankri. Both Latula and Mituna looked up at each other. Even with Kankri's stuttery words, they'd both managed to catch that.

“... Like 'her'?” Latula asked. And he suddenly went rigid again, clutching onto her tight. Mituna scooted up closer so he could sit behind Kankri and closer to Latula, carefully hugging them both. He didn't want to just be off to the side of the conversation anymore. If anything, he wanted to help with _something_.

“... Sumone hurt you, Kankz?” Mituna asked soft as he could without tripping over his words too badly. “They hurftftffd... they hurt you bad?”

There was a pause, and then a nod against Latula's side.

“You said she... was it Porrim?” she asked. Not that she really believed the idea; much as Porrim bugged Kankri about quadrant stuff, she doubted she could manage to do anything that would cause this sort of reaction. But, to her own relief, he shook his head. “Anyone else we know?” Another head shake. Though confusion showed on Mituna's face, an idea occurred to Latula, and she looked at the Mutant Blood in her arms. “... Was it someone from Beforus?” Another long pause, and finally, a nod.

The Teal girl's lips thinned with both anger and disgust. To think that anyone from their peaceful home planet could do this... Sure Beforus had its own problems, but this? No fucking way. Not like this.

“That suxz,” Mituna muttered. And Latula swore she heard Kankri snort, just a bit. Even if not exactly happily, he at least responded.

“... Kankz,” Latula sighed, finally feeling at ease enough to call him by nickname. “I know we've said this before, like a lot, but... I really think you should talk to someone about this. And I don't mean just us.” He didn't show any signs of negative or positive feelings, so she kept going, while Mituna kept holding them both. “I know you're not super stoked about the idea of seeing our lady, but you know you don't gotta. We could find you someone else. Someone you feel okay talking about this stuff with... cause really you should. Not just because of this.” She ruffled his hair tentatively. “But your whole thing, where you just lash back and run and lock yourself away... it's not healthy, Kankz. Gotta face that shit sooner or later, or else it just becomes a hell of a lot worse, you know.”

“And,” Mituna piped in, “And y'know... don't gotta tell uz all yur shit... but you can if you wantth to. We're not gonna get mad for that.”

“... Okay.” Kankri had moved his face enough to free himself to talk. “Okay... I guess... we can try looking for someone...”

“Great, Kankz. Really great.” Latula patted his head. “We don't gotta do that right now, though. Been a long night. We can just rest for now. Sleep til noon, then we get up and eat a big old lunch and we'll start looking once we're all at our raddest. Kay?”

“Alright... That sounds good.”

With the decision sealed, the three of them settled down together to rest; Latula finally kicking off her shoes onto the floor, and the boys settling in best they could. Kankri ended up sandwiched between them, but it was in a comfortable sort of closeness. Kankri ganced at both of them with red rimmed eyes, seeing them as they both started to relax.

Slowly, he first turned and kissed Latula on the cheek, then he turned the other way and, very gingerly, kissed the bruise he'd left in his panic. Mituna briefly thought of showing the healing over bite marks on his tongue, asking if he might kiss those too, but then decided against it.

“... I love you both,” Kankri murmured as he snuggled in to relax between them. Both Mituna and Latula smiled, glancing at each other over Kankri's head

“Love you too, Kankz.”

“Luhv yuu two.”

 


End file.
